Curiously, the NFL team that is favored in Week 2 – on the road, no le s – against a team coming off a scintillating upset of the defending AFC champions.Oddsmakers, who have established the New England Patriots as Robinson Chirinos Jersey 1.5-point favorites over the Steelers Sunday in Pittsburgh, must be accounting for the absence of reigning Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt (chest). But they also might be discounting the Steelers’ overtime win over the Bengals in Cincinnati, because they’retaking into considerationthe last 20 years:The Patriots have played 20 consecutive seasons without starting 0-2.New England is 0-1 after a lifele s 20-7 lo s to the Miami Dolphins. And, in case you haven’t noticed, the author of their impre sive 0-2 avoidance – Tom Brady – is no longer in Foxboro.The gravity of starting 0-2 is real. Only about 12 percent of teams losing their first Gerrit Cole Jersey two games go on to make the playoffs. Even with the NFL’s expanded postseason field, last year the seven teams that started 0-2 didn’t make it.Scroll to ContinueStarting 0-2 isn’t an absolute a death sentence, as four teams have rallied to play in a Super Bowl. But it Michael Brantley Jersey usually takes an asterisk, such as Emmitt Smith holding out the first two games for the Dallas Cowboys in 1993 or New England’s Drew Bledsoe getting injured in Week 2 in 2001.Bledsoe, of course, was knocked out of that game by Jets linebacker Mo Lewis, prompting to insert Brady and … launch a six-Super Bowl dynasty. The Pats lost that game to New York to fall to 0-2, but went 11-3 Brad Peacock Jersey the rest of the season with Brady as the starter and – with an a sist from the infamous Tuck Rule – went on to upset the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.During Brady’s reign, New England never started 0-2. Even when he suffered a torn ACL in the opener in 2008, it started 2-0 behind backup quarterback Matt Ca sel.Under Mac Jones the Pats lost their 2021 opener to the Dolphins, but Brian McCann Jersey rebounded for a 25-6 in Week 2 at the Jets. But this year’s team seems primed for 0-2.The only player to score a touchdown – and won’t be in uniform Sunday in Pittsburgh. Brady isn’t coming back to save these Patriots, nor 2001 0-2-to-glory heroes such asAntowain Smith, Troy Brown, Adam Vinatieri, Richard Seymour, Tedy Bruschi or Ty Law. . A lo s Sunday in Pittsburgh would take them to a low point not experienced in the last 20 years.